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Elmwood Express 9-15-23

Elmwood Express 9-15-23
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From the Principal's Desk...

Dear Elmwood Families,

We would like to thank all of our families who attended the Open House. The turnout was great and it was wonderful to see your children so excited to show off their classrooms! We look forward to seeing all of you again for parent-teacher conferences in November!

Communication is key here at Elmwood. It is through parent and teacher communication that we can best support your child. If you ever have any questions regarding your child, their classroom teacher is a great way to start!

In the next few weeks, the kids will start taking the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test. This replaces Aimsweb + which students previously took. The MAP tests are adaptive tests that your child takes on a computer. Adaptive tests adjust to student responses, and the test becomes more difficult as your child answers questions correctly. When your child incorrectly answers a question, the test becomes less difficult. Therefore, your child takes a test specifically created for his or her learning level. Your child’s MAP results are reported in RIT scoresRIT stands for Rasch UnIT. The RIT score is an equal-interval scale, like feet and inches, which is independent of grade level. As a result, we can measure growth in learning over time. Just like the Aimsweb+, score reports will be sent to you each time your child takes the assessment, which will be in the fall, winter and spring.

If you are ever to have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Thank You!

Sincerely,

Matthew Lerner & Stephanie Hagins

Elmwood School Administrative Team

Upcoming Events

🍎Monday, September 18- Fire Drill @ 1:00 PM

🍏Monday, September 18- Early Release- Students dismissed at 2 PM

🍎Tuesday, September 19- PATT Meeting @ 6:00 PM in the cafeteria

🍏 Friday, September 22- Walk-A-Thon Sheets due

🍎Monday, September 25- Early Release @ 2 PM

🍏Wednesday, September 27- Lockdown Drill at 8:45 & Board of Education Meeting at Elmwood Park High School- 7:00 PM

🍎 Monday, October 2nd- Early Release @ 2 PM

🍏Tuesday, October 3rd- Community Open House

🍎 Wednesday, October 4th- Picture Day!

🍏Friday, October 6th- Walk-A-Thon

🍎Monday, October 9th- No School- Columbus Day

🍏Thursday, October 12th- Fire Safety Assembly and Burn Box Demonstration- 1:30 PM

Construction Showcase 

Picture Day

NWEAMAP

September 2023

Dear Parents/Guardians,

During the weeks of September 18 - 29th, your child will take a MAP ® Growth™ test from NWEA ® on a computer. MAP Growth scores help teachers check student performance by measuring achievement and growth. Teachers use results to tailor classroom lessons and set goals for students. NWEA MAP Growth will be replacing the previously used assessment tool: AIMSweb.

MAP Growth tests are unique and adapt to your child’s responses to measure your child’s skill level. If your child answers a question correctly, the next question is more challenging. If they answer incorrectly, the next one is easier. These results will provide a more complete picture of what your child knows and is ready to learn—whether it is on, above, or below their grade level.

Since MAP Growth tests provide immediate and accurate information about your child’s learning, it’s easy for teachers to identify students with similar scores who are generally ready for instruction in similar skills and topics, and then plan instruction accordingly.

MAP Growth reports also provide typical growth data for students who are in the same grade, or subject and have the same starting performance level. Each school year, students in grades K - 8 will take the tests in fall, winter and spring. Following each testing period, you will receive a Family Report showing a summary of how your child is performing academically.

We are truly excited to focus on your child’s individual growth and achievement. For more information about MAP Growth, visit NWEA.org/familytoolkit. If you have any questions, please reach out to the building Principal.

Sincerely,

Darek Naglak

Director of Curriculum and Instruction

Attendance

If your child will be absent, please be sure to use your PowerSchool App or email us at ewattendance@epcusd401.org. Please be sure to include the name of your student and the reason they will not be in school. We cannot excuse absences without a valid reason.

Lunch & Breakfast

Starting with the 2023-2024 SY, D401 contracted with a new food vendor: Quest Food Management Services. We chose to break from our long-standing agreement with the previous food provider because Quest Food promised to provide increased meal variety and higher food quality at a relatively similar price as the previous provider. With this change, meal prices increased by $0.25 this year. All lunches K-8 are $3.00 per meal.

Lunch Menus

How to Pay for Lunch

BPAC

BPAC is a committee for districts that have bilingual education programs. The committee consists of bilingual program parents, legal guardians of language learners, teachers, other school personnel and community leaders.

Event Information:

Come learn more about our programming and interact with other parents in the district! Spanish and Ukrainian translations will be available.

Thursday, Sep 21, 2023, 09:00 AM

John Mills Elementary School, North 76th Avenue, Elmwood Park, IL

Music

Hello Elmwood Families,

These are important concert dates for the year. All concerts will be held in the High School Auditorium.

Thursday, December 21st, 1st and 2nd Grade Holiday Show and the Choir Concert

Wednesday, April 10th, 3rd and 4th Grade Show

Wednesday, May 8th, Kindergarten Show

Thursday, May 23rd, joint Choir Concert with Elmwood,

John Mills and Elm Middle School Choirs

*Choir is an after-school club only for 4th and 5th graders

Thank you,

Mrs. Dabbs

 

My name is Mrs. Dabbs and I am the music teacher here at Elmwood. I love to sing and play the ukulele. This is going to be a wonderful year in our brand-new music room! Keep singing everyone!

dabbsm@epcusd401.org

Before and Aftercare

Do you need before or after care for your child? Check out our Before and After School Extended Care (BASEC) program out by clicking on the link below:

https://www.picketfencelearningcenter.com/basec/